


Deeper Than Skin

by BeBopBaby



Series: Clementine Will Remember This [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mute Louis, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 19:30:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20263342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeBopBaby/pseuds/BeBopBaby
Summary: Everything Clementine has ever faced hurt her. It left her scarred and sometimes she has nightmares. It's a good thing her family is there to love her when she wakes.





	Deeper Than Skin

**Author's Note:**

> Just a heads up, this can be read as a pre-queal to Clementine Remembered That! or it can be read on its own but this is to show the family dynamic they had before... you know. she traveled through time.

Everything was dark aside from the small corner in which she resided. It felt like it was being lit by a cold fire that nobody could really see. She could hear walkers outside and the rattling of a fence indicated it was keeping them at bay. They were comfortingly familiar compared to what haunted her.

The eight-year-old hid under a desk assumed to be in the corner of where ever she was. She didn’t know, she couldn’t see the walls. The whole thing was covered in childish drawings from the flat surface to the legs. Some were by her, some were by Tenn and AJ, some were familiar and she couldn’t remember why. It reminded her of Crawford. 

“Clementine,” A layered voice called mockingly. Chills went down her spine. Each piece of the voice sounded horrifyingly familiar. The dairy, the boat, Howe’s, David. They were too much. Her head felt like it was splitting in two. 

“Clementine!” It was Duck’s voice, so young and innocent and full of love. “Come play with me and Ben!” 

But they were dead, they’d both been dead for so very long. 

“Clementine.” It was the solemn, sorrowful voice of Lee. “You have to shoot me.” 

She didn’t want to! Of course, she would never want to! What choice did she have, though? 

A loud bang rang out and echoed against the blackness that felt like walls too close to breathe. 

“This is all your fault, Clementine!” Christa screamed. 

The little girl whimpered. She didn’t know Omid would die. She didn’t know someone would take her gun and use it against them. How could she? 

Dogs growling came from everywhere. They were so loud and so many that she lost track of where they all could be. They overlapped into one whimper that scared her yet tore her heart to shreds. 

The sound of skin meeting skin silenced the hound. Sarah’s scream took its place. She screamed and cried and Clementine couldn't’ find her no matter how hard she looked. All she saw was the darkness. 

“Where’s the other radio?” Carver’s voice sent chills down her spine. 

“I have it!” Kenny. 

The sound of the man’s head being bashed with the radio made her sob. She didn’t know they would get caught and she would have gladly taken the blame. Why did he? 

“This is your fault!” Kenny’s yell was so loud she had to cover her ears. “You think just because you’re a little girl you can just get people killed?!” 

Of course not! She was upset too, with every single death! She wanted to stop it, not cause it! 

The sound of wood crashing against itself scared her. Sarah screamed. She begged for help. Clementine reached into the darkness but knew there was no hope for the girl. 

“S-Sarah!” She choked out. 

“People weigh you down,” Jane said coldly. 

Ice creaking and crackling into spirals came from the distance. The sound got closer so very fast yet she saw nothing but darkness. 

“Stay back,” Luke said calmly. “I’m fine, just stay back.” 

The ice broke. She felt cold, freezing. It was her fault, she knew. If she had listened and stayed back, maybe he’d still be here. If she didn’t let him die anyway else, at least. 

“What are you doing with our stuff?” It was her own voice. She sounded so childish, so trusting. She felt so betrayed. 

A gunshot and a phantom pain in her shoulder reminded her of the dark truth behind those words. 

“Where’s AJ?” 

“Clementine, trust me.” Jane had lied. 

She heard herself crying, sobbing loudly in the blizzard. She did nothing. Kenny’s knife went through Jane’s chest and she did nothing. What could she do, though? Shoot Kenny? Never. She couldn’t. 

Everything went dark. Then there was a light. No. Two lights. They were coming closer. She covered her face when she realized what it was. A car. 

The crash was loud. AJ cried. When she built up the courage to look again, she saw the light had lingered. It wasn’t car headlights, though. It was shining down like a beam from Heaven and it centered right in front of her. The form that sat in the light was small and chubby. He sniffled and cried and reached out for her. 

Her little goofball. 

“Clem!” He whined and she wanted nothing more than to take him into her arms and kiss his pains and fears away. 

“You’re not fit to be a mother.” David’s cold voice was harsh.

A hand reached out from the darkness into the beam just above AJ’s fuzzy head. Then there were two, then four then six until there as eight. Each pair was different and familiar yet not. They were horrible dead versions of her greatest enemies. 

“AJ!” She screamed but couldn’t move. They reached for her boy and latched onto him. He screamed as he was pulled back out of sight. 

“AJ! Give him back!” 

“You’re weak.” Lilly’s voice came from everywhere. “You’re just like Lee. Weak and worthless.” 

“Clementine!” Screams of all the children drowned out the woman. Willy and Tenn stood out the most, their voices laced with a heartache so bad it hurt her. They all sounded terrified. She promised she would protect them and she had failed. It was her fault. 

“Clementine!” Now it was one voice. One soft, sweet voice. It sounded like… 

“Lee?” She called out with uncertainty.

“Clem, wake up.” 

She bolted awake. The room was dark yet comforting in its familiarity. Three figures stood around her. They all looked at her with worry and fear. 

Her eyes adjusted and she saw who those faces belonged to. 

“Clem, are you okay?” AJ was quick to crawl into her lab and instantly grabbed onto her. She realized she was shaking. 

“We heard you yelling from our room.” Tenn sat beside her and leaned against her. He picked at a pocket on her warm jacket. “We got worried so we came to check on you.” 

The words from the boys made her calm down a bit. With the loving smile of a mother, she wrapped her arms around them and held them close. They returned the hug gladly. The nightmares were gone and love took their place. 

“I’m fine,” she almost whispered. “I’m fine.” 

She felt the bed shift behind her and arms wrap around the three of them. Hot breaths hit her neck and made her shiver. She leaned into it. 

“I’m okay, Louis.” She pressed the side of her head against his, Tenn safely tucked under his chin. “It was just a bad dream.” 

Nobody asked what it was about. They knew she hated to talk about it. 

The door was pushed open and clacking came close. The weight of the bed shifted once more and panting ensued. 

“Rosie’s worried too,” Tenn said. 

“There’s nothing to worry about,” AJ responded. He pet the dog and pretended he wasn’t as concerned as they all knew he was. “Clem’s strong. She can do anything.” 

“She’s strong but I don’t think she can do everything,” Tenn leaned forward too, stroking the dog behind the ear softly. 

“Clem can do a lot though! She’s amazing!” 

The boys whispered softly, the subject changing from her to various other things that didn’t relate. Clementine listened as they spoke. She just held them. Tenn tucked safely on her left with his head resting underneath Louis’ chin and his hand playing with Clementine’s fingers. AJ sat on her lap directly and nestled himself in her chest as best he could. 

She herself relaxed against Louis and breathed in his scent. He smiled that sweet, goofy smile only he could and kissed the side of her head softly. 

The boys she regarded as her sons at best, brothers at worse, were safe in her arms. The guy she loved because he was an idiot- but oh such a sweet, goofy one he as- holding her regardless of the fact she could break him. The dog she once feared but now was loyal to her guarded them like a dragon protected its treasure. They were an awkward, weird family function. She loved it though. She felt the love. 

There were walkers and monsters just outside the brick walls that kept them safe but she wasn’t afraid. She had people to stay with her and they lived. Everyone else died but they lived. That meant something to her. 

So she held her family close and fell asleep bathed in love.

**Author's Note:**

> Clementine is best mom and you can fight me over it.


End file.
